B-cycle is growing quickly. Look at the numbers

Three years into the city’s B-cycle program, ridership is up tremendously across the board, according to new data. Each year runs through June 30 (so the 2014-2015 year ended this June).

That’s a 41 percent increase in two years. Annual memberships have seen similar growth: up 43 percent to 788. Day memberships went up 26 percent to 14,672.

Note: If you aren’t familiar with the B-cycle program, read our quick story: How to use the B-cycle bike share program.

Charlotte’s still a long way off from the numbers Denver’s putting up (that’s where the whole movement was started in 2010), but the growth at least makes the program hard to laugh off. The city’s first-year numbers were significantly ahead of Fort Worth, for example, which had 25,000 trips after it launched.

“Our projections, they were not in the same ballpark,” said Dianna Ward, Charlotte B-cycle’s executive director. “We didn’t think that B-cycle was going to be adopted like it actually has been.”

She credits the growth to the fact that most people who ride aren’t really cyclists. They’re people making a simple financial calculation. If you’re living on the light rail line, they’re weighing a $500 car payment each month against joining B-cycle for $65 a year, Ward said.

The program is also in good shape financially through 2019. Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina has just renewed a $250,000-a-year sponsorship for the next three years. B-cycle also landed two grants – $15,000 from the Knight Foundation and $20,000 from People for Bikes – to expand outreach.

The number of stations will increase, too. Crescent Dilworth bought one to be installed in August, and another is going in by the new uptown Whole Foods.

B-cycle is also looking to sell bulk memberships to the big apartment complexes opening up, and to find a way to let people use student IDs to rent bikes.

Want to get involved? 

B-cycle hosts “Free Wheelin’ Fridays” each week with a community breakfast at 7 a.m. and ride into uptown beginning at 8 a.m. The ride launches in South End and Plaza Midwood from their Common Market locations, and from Wesley Heights from the Rhino Market.

This Saturday, B-cycle is hosting a ride launching from Johnson C. Smith University at 6 p.m. Details below.